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Governor Makes Right Call In Supporting Natural Gas Development On Top Of Roan Plateau, Says Americans For American Energy

GOLDEN, Co. (Dec. 20, 2007) – Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced today that he supports harvesting clean-burning natural gas in the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserve lands on top of the Roan Plateau. Greg Schnacke, President and CEO of Americans Energy, said the Governor made the right decision for Colorado.

“Governor Ritter made the right decision today in saying that he supports environmentally sound harvest of clean-burning natural gas in the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserve lands on top of the Roan Plateau,” Schnacke said. “That’s a welcome departure from the highly inflammatory and negative statements made by other Colorado politicians on this subject.”

“The Governor is signaling that he understands that Colorado, and America, needs to increase our ability to produce American energy and reduce our dependence on foreign energy through environmentally sound projects like this one,” Schnacke said.

“Governor Ritter also clearly understands that the State stands to realize billions of dollars of revenue from oil and gas bonus bids and royalties on this project,” Schnacke added. “Half of that money will make its way to Colorado’s education system.”

Schnacke said: “Anti-drilling extremists have been lobbying to block virtually any natural gas harvest in the NOSR lands on the top of the Roan,” Schnacke said. “The Governor appears to be rejecting that path. I think he recognizes the value of the stakeholder process that helped to produce this plan, which itself took seven years to complete.”

“Colorado is a winner today, and the anti-drilling extremists are losers, which is a good outcome for our state and for the nation,” he added.

Ritter made his comments at a news conference at the State Capitol. He said he has “engaged in productive discussions” with the U.S. Department of the Interior about the development of the NOSR, a small area on the Roan Plateau in western Colorado, and said he has several objectives he wants to achieve during continuing conservations with the federal agency. The Governor’s official statement can be seen here.

It appears that the Governor is asking BLM to reconsider its current restriction of allowing only one operator at a time to work on top of the plateau, which may result in a higher level of competitive interest in the project.

Industry estimates say the area contains enough natural gas to heat 4 million homes for the next quarter century.

Recent polls and surveys show wide support among Coloradoans for the project. A Denver Business Journal reader survey this past week showed 73 percent of respondents were in favor of moving forward with the BLM management plan to harvest the NOSR’s natural gas, with 27 percent opposed.

A statewide voter opinion poll, conducted by Hill Research Consultants in August, showed 60 percent of respondents approved of developing the NOSR in order to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports, with 31 percent opposed and 9 percent unsure.

In addition, 66 percent of respondents to the HRC poll said they would be “more likely” to support development of the area if tax revenues from the project were used to fund higher education in Colorado.

The state’s three largest newspapers also have expressed support for the project, with The Denver Post and the Colorado Springs Gazette saying in the past two weeks that the project should move forward. A recent report in the Rocky Mountain News also detailed the revenues that Colorado could gain from ongoing and future oil and gas development.

Schnacke noted that the oil and gas industry contributes some $23 billion to Colorado each year.